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Motorist 'demonised' by ministers in drive to cut pollution, says top government advisor
Last updated at 01:09am on 25.07.08
Labour faces being kicked out of office by angry motorists if it continues to 'unfairly demonise' the car, a top Government adviser warned today.
Families are 'rebelling' against unfair car taxes, restrictions on their freedoms, and attacks on 4X4s and luxury cars by politicians and campaigners driven by 'ideological dogma' rather than hard-facts, Richard Parry-Jones claimed.
Mr Parry-Jones was appointed by the government to look at how technology can be used to cut pollution.
4x4 vehicles, like this Freelander 2 being unveiled by tennis star Maria Sharapova, have been unfairly demonised according to Parry-Jones
But the former Ford Motor Company executive turned on his new employers yesterday urging them to stop the war on the motorist.
Unfair motoring taxes and attacks of family runarounds were the result of 'muddled thinking' based on prejudice and dogma rather than hard scientific facts, he said.
'If you price consumers out of their cars, they will probably throw you out at the next election,' he said.
He added that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his ministers must 're-assess the political bias against cars'.
He accepted that cars did have some impact on climate change - but pointed out that they represented only 8per cent of the problem while appearing to get 100 per cent of the blame. Tax raised from motorists and motoring was 'disproportionately high', he said.
Mr Parry-Jones is a world-renowned motor industry expert who has just been appointed as a ministerial adviser to John Hutton's Department for Business.
He is chairing Mr Hutton's Automotive Industry Growth Team, looking at how to create 'greener' cars and cut costs.
His speech follows a visit this week by Mr Brown, Mr Hutton, and Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to the British International Motor Show in London's Docklands where the PM met motor industry bosses to discuss 'green' cars.
Mr Parry-Jones recently retired as chief technical officer and head of research at Ford.
He said politicians must carry the confidence of Britain's 30 million voting motorists if they want achieve or maintain office:''If politicians go too fast, ultimately they get detached from the electorate and get thrown out.'
He noted:'What on Earth are we doing allowing our elected representatives to decide for us what we should be allowed or encouraged ton drive, or what should be banned or penalised in the name of climate change.'
Reader views (4)
As a motorist I would not mind any moderate increase in motoring taxes if they were used to slash exorbitant rail and bus fares.
I also use public transport and you have no incentive to use rail for long distance travel as the walk on fares are a rip off.
How much commuter traffic could be removed from the roads if rail fares were heavily subsidised to levels enjoyed by other European countries.
We know we are being ripped off by the Climate change lobby and the Green fanatics who hate cars, that is why we have had enough!
- Carl Kisicki, Lewisham
Driving a car and polluting the air everybody else has to breathe is NOT a God-given right. Of course the more polluting cars have to be taxed higher - that's a no-brainer. And technology by itself will not reduce CO2 emissions. There has to be serious behaviour change by all those people who think it's ok to drive when they could just as well take public transport. Come on, people have survived without cars for thousands of years. How come some of those couch potatoes just can't get out of their mobile polluting devices? On your bike! (Paulina, car-less for the last 15 years and very happy about it)
- Paulina Smid, London
How much did they pay him to state the bleedin' obvious? What else are motorists supposed to do? The rail network and tubes are already full to capacity (despite being among the most expensive on the planet), while outside of the big cities the bus networks are nothing shorty of a joke.
- Paul, London
What else would you expect this "former Ford Motor Company executive" to say? And how much is he being paid to say it? Next thing they'll appoint Jeremy Clarkson as government advisor on climate change.
- Austen, London
